Star Wars: Battle for Talamo
by Senu Meji
Summary: When the CIS attacks the Duro planet of Talamo,a major resource of the Republic for fuel and bacta,the council summons temporary Council member Senu Meji to repell the CIS, which might lead to a confrontation with his old master,Count Dooku
1. The Distress Call

Battle for Talamo: Chapter I 

One Week before the Battle of Coruscant 

The Jedi council was already deeply worried about the state of the Clone wars, members of the Council have died gruesome deaths  
at the hands of our enemies, and The Senate had already passed the Regional Government act given to them by Chancellor Palpatine himself.  
We all felt that the Chancellor was getting ahead of himself when it came to the war, he was a politician, not a warrior by any means, but most of  
the Jedi council felt a certain respect for him, a respect for the calm and collective feeling that always resonated off of him. Much like the same feeling that they got from me, I joined the Council three days after Coleman Kjac led his raid on Duxn. He would be back before the final battle centered above Coruscant. On the third day of my service on the council, we got a distress call from a small Duros colony on Talamo, a large outer rim planet usually called the "Galactic Wasteland", for it's barren wastelands covered with black ash and volcanic lava. Talamo had one moon that floated above it, which the Duro colonists aptly named "Ijil Ca'min", in Ancient Duros, it meant "The Forgotten Area", and that's what it was. You would think that Talamo was a peaceful planet, and it was, the only form of government was a member of the Duros Royal family, whose position was called the "Taq'u Esktamn", the "Illustrious Leader". It was said by the Royal family, for every one thousand credit given by the people of Talamo to their credit account, they would send one member of the Duros Defense Militia to protect the planet. Apparently, the Separatists found out about this exchange and sent their technicians to freeze the credit account, which would in turn, freeze any shipments of militia members to Talamo, thus leaving it vulnerable to attacks by the CIS forces. The Council was surprised enough when the distress call came in.

A loud fizzing sound was heard in the circular hologram projector in the Council chambers, I had been sitting in the fourth chair to the right of Master Yoda, so I only could see the back of the horrified militia member whose body appeared in a flash of blue light. Broken basic was his language, but all of the Masters could understand it well enough to try and help. "Jeedai Council! This is Duros Defense Militia member 22-7, I reporting a breach of our shield generator around the capital city, all shipments of fuel and bacta have been halted by the Separatists military!" The Duro screamed to the Council, holding his outdated blaster rifle in his slimy hands, he wore a worn out flight suit with military insignia of a gunnery sergeant in the DDM, and his helmet was equipped with micro binoculars which could be used for sniper shooting. "The Separatists already took Austl. Kami two days ago, the port city is our only shipping port and only way to get civilians on and off Talamo!" The soldier yelled quickly, firing off five shots from his rifle towards a foe out of the holoprojectors range of sight. Master Mace Windu, the Korun master of Vaapad, said calmly in his deep and collective voice "Stay Calm, 22-7, we need to know how many CIS forces you can see, can you tell us this?" His hands were clasped together as he leaned towards the blue hologram of Gunnery Sergeant 22-7. "Ummm..."22-7 hesitated, lowering his micro binoculars onto his large eyes, he turned his head slowly and looked around his position, firing off two shots towards the east. He continued "I see many battle droids, around two hundred tops." Windu sighed heavily and buried his face into his hands, he then said slowly "…Do you see any other military vehicles and weapons that the Seps are using" 22-7 squinted his eyes and then looked towards Windu, saying in a quick tone "Yes…I see five other droids, not droidekas, they are larger than regular droids and have long capes, Carrying staffs of electricity..." Windu turned towards the green tridactal creature next to him and said slowly "Magna Guards.." Grand Master Yoda nodded his small, green head and said quickly "Retreat your men, you must..In the stalagmite caves you and your militia will hide."22-7 nodded slowly and then said to the Council, his mouth literally dropping to the floor "It...Can't be…Why here!? How could **he** be here!?" Sweat dropped from the Duro's face as he screamed to those of his men who were still alive "Full Retreat! General Grievous is-"Before 22-7 could utter the rest of his words, a light saber sizzled straight through his neck and back towards the way it came. The feed cut at that moment, Yoda shook his head mournfully and then said "Discuss a plan of action, we should…" Mace Windu nodded his head slowly and said "I agree. We should discuss a full scale re-supply of the DDM and an attack on the Separatists forces on Talamo, the fuel that the Duros mine off that planet is essential to the War effort." The other members of the council nodded in agreement, Ki-Adi Mundi, the two brain Cerean said in response "I would support this move, if we had enough troops to spare, but the fact of the matter is we don't, Master Windu." Mace nodded to Mundi and said to him "We have more than enough troops stationed as police on captured Separatists planets, perhaps we should put this task into the hands of Jedi only?" Master Plo Koon, the masked Kel Dor Jedi, said through his breathing mask "This is outrageous! Our numbers are stretched too thin already, we have had to find masters and knights for more military position than in the Great Sith War! We are keepers of the peace, Master Windu, Jedi are not meant to play on the battlefield, commanding soldiers who look the same as the last one!" Shaak Ti and Agen Kolar both nodded their heads in agreement, while I had enough of this, my turn to speak was to come. "Master Meji, You are our newest addition to the Council while Master Kjac is in the fighting, tell us your thoughts.." Master Windu said graciously, as I stood up, my bald head shining as the light hit it "I think that with all of this squabbling, you are all sounding like the Senate! What we need now is a unanimous decision to what our course of action shall be, as we argue about how to stop the atrocities that are happening on Talamo, more and more civilians are mercilessly being slaughtered by the CIS. "Saesee Tiin, the twin horned Master said in his gruff voice "But isn't true that your Master is leading the CIS itself?" I was not going to let this hinder my resolve to stop the inevitable slaughter on Talamo and it's moon. "Yes...It is true that I was an apprentice of Count Dooku, but let us not forget that my own padawan was gunned down on the sands of the Geonosian battle Arena by Dooku's droids, she died in my arms as I held off the forces of my former master, so don't try and use my apprenticeship under Dooku against me.." As I finished that statement, the calm voice of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi rang in from his seat two chairs away from me, his hologram appearing as he was on his flagship, orbiting Cato Neimoidia "Senu is right...This is not getting us anywhere, and we still have not uncovered the identity of Darth Sidious yet..."Mace Windu nodded and said to them all "I see..I believe that the only way to strike the Seps on Talamo is to put a company in the hands of a highly qualified Jedi Master. "He looked around with his brown piercing eyes and then waited. I sighed heavily and stood up, placing my hands calmly behind my back. I looked outwards towards the dark skies of Coruscant, the lights of millions of building lighting up the dark skies. "I will go...I request my good friend, Commander Thire of the Coruscant Security to accompany me that is all I request..." Mace shook his head and said slowly "I'm sorry, Senu, But Chancellor Palpatine has complete control of the Coruscant Security forces, we cannot request anything from them without approval from the Chancellor himself..."I bowed deeply and then said to them "I see, Master Windu...I will have to put in my request personally...Excuse me." I walked towards the turbo lift which would take me to the hangar, and my first step to meet with Chancellor Palpatine himself.

"Next!" The Rodian secretary of Chancellor Palpatine screamed in basic towards the several people sitting across the room. They were all there for a number of reasons, from autographs to begging and heckling, two Red Guards, the personal bodyguards of the Chancellor, flanked the large door which led to Palpatine's office. Each of them wielded a Force pike, medium sized spear-like pikes that emitted a strong, electrical shock if one were to be stabbed by it. Their faces were concealed behind a large red helmet, the only other color on the helmet was the black visor which allowed the Guards to see. I stood up and walked over to the Rodian and said slowly to him "I am Senu Meji, Temporary member of the Jedi Council, I am-"I was rudely cut off by the secretary, who said with a sigh, please place all weapons in the box to the left of you and you can pick it up on the when you are done. I stuttered and said "But...But I am a Jedi Master, You can't-"the secretary interrupted me again and said "I don't care if you are Darth Sidious himself trying to buy a cup of Mandalorian wine for the Chancellor, Either put your weapon into the box or you will be arrested by the Guards." I sighed again and unclipped my unique double bladed light saber from my belt, a symbol of Meji tradition and a family heirloom from the Great Sith War, and slowly placed the polished hilt into the box, the doors to the Chancellor's office immediately opened and the Red Guards stepped away from it, allowing me to enter. When I did, the door quickly closed behind me, I placed my hands into the long sleeves of my cloak and strode silently towards the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine himself. He was waiting for me in his large, throne like chair, wearing an ornate robe that could sell for at least two hundred thousand credits on the black market. As I approached him, I noticed the security camera in the corner of the room, He stood up slowly and outstretched a hand towards me, saying in a friendly tone "I am just as annoyed with those cameras...and I am sorry about you having to remove your light saber, it is very nice." I grabbed Palpatine's wrinkly hand with mine, which was inside a black leather flight glove, as was the other one. "It is alright, Sir...I'm sorry to have disturbed you so late, but it is urgent..."Palpatine sat down into his chair, I did the same."I see...You are speaking of the crisis on Talamo then?" I shook my head gravely and said "We got a holomessage from the DDM forces on the planet, the Separatists broke through their security perimeter around the planet and took the port city two days ago, restricting any shipments of fuel and bacta...which are desperately needed here on Coruscant and for the Military." Palpatine's face sunk and he said with a sigh "...Yes...This is something that must be taken care of, Master Jedi, and I will support any military action that you have planned..."He finished with a quaint smile. I bowed my head slightly and then said "Yes, But I came here for a favor from you personally, Chancellor..."Palpatine raised an eyebrow and said "Oh?" I looked at him and said respectfully "My tactical team is being assembled and I wish to have Commander Thire as my second in command for this mission, I have worked with him on several occasions and we have been known to work quickly and get our objective done..."Palpatine's eyes went upwards and then back towards me, he said with a sigh "I see...Commander Thire is one of my most trusted men, I assure you that he will be more than willing to accompany you on your mission. If I may suggest a certain plan of action?" I bowed my head in confirmation "I think you should send your fleet to the far side of Talamo...there is should be stay until called for." I stood and bowed deeply towards Palpatine. He grabbed my hand and shook it, saying gratefully to me "Your work is almost finished, my friend...Soon this war will be over and peace will return to the Republic, thanks to the Jedi." I nodded, a smile on my face, saying to the Chancellor "I hope so...many of us long for this to be over..."I started to walk towards the door and then turned back towards the Chancellor and said to him "May the force be with you.. "He nodded his head and turned towards the large window behind him, watching the night skies. I walked out of Palpatine's room and grabbed my light saber from the small box that I put it in earlier and gave a gesture to the secretary that she particularly didn't like. I smirked as I walked away from the waiting room for the Chancellor's office, a group of musicians walked past me towards the office, their beautiful music filled the air as I walked past the beautiful fountain in the atrium of the Chancellor's building and towards my ship, which would take me to the Military headquarters of Coruscant. 


	2. The Operation

Battle for Talamo: Chapter II 

The Operation 

Venator-Class Star Destroyer "_Illustrious Jewel"_

Six Days before the Battle of Coruscant 

"The strike team has been assembled by your orders, General Meji." Commander Thire said through his white clone helmet, giving a formal salute as I jumped off of the Gunship, the one that brought me from Palatine's office to here. I smirked and grabbed Thire's gloved hand with my own, saying to the clone commander "Excellent, that's why I picked you to be my second in command on this mission." Thire nodded and said to me, as we both walked towards the massive Flagship that was put under my command "It's good to be of help, Appo said I shouldn't have gone with a Jedi General, but to hell with him, I trust you with my life, Sir." I nodded my head and said with a smirk "Appo is paranoid, I almost burst out laughing when the Council was informed that he was to be put in charge of the 501st."I knew Thire was smirking under his helmet with the same type of smile I had a few seconds ago "The 501st are my brothers, and I respect that, but they are foolish on the battlefield, The only one who can lead them properly is a Republic Intelligence officer by the name of Striker, he's shown to be a real gett about battle.." 

I shook my head and said slowly "Republic Intelligence is acting more and more like a Secret Police than anything else." Thire nodded and replied with a deep sigh "That's because they are becoming a secret police, I've seen things like that happen every day, six out of ten of those Intelligence men is a true hut'uun, and I hate cowards, almost as much as I hate Seps."I smirked and said "I'll drink to that..." Thire led me aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer and into the Briefing room, where all of his men were sitting, waiting for me to address them. The "Illustrious Jewel" as it was called, was one of the most heavily fortified Star Destroyers in the Republic fleet. And I almost fell flat on my face when it started to take off. "I am General Senu Meji, I've got many things to say that will allow you to trust me easier, I also have a few things that may want you to get up from your seat and blast my face off...that's got going to happen." I saw the faces of these troopers for the first time, all of their helmets were at their sides, and their almost identical faces made my brain hurt for a second, they snickered at my comment, seeing it a humorous. "Well...I was born on Mon Calamari and was taken to the Jedi Temple at the age of one, There I was taught by Yoda until I was six, then I was placed under the tutelage of Count Dooku, The leader of the CIS, but I assure you, this will not hinder me on our mission at any time, you have my word."  
I conveyed my message to these troops pretty well, I could sense that most of them were beginning to trust me, and on the battlefield, that's all I needed. "I trained with Dooku until I was twenty, when I became a knight, when at that time, I took a padawan by the name of Sarissa Jeng, We became close friends and I taught her well. At this time, I carried a single blue lightsaber, and yes, I was bald back then too." A few of the troops smirked slightly, but most retained that sense of complete control. "My padawan graduated from my when I was thirty, and this was also the year that this war started, I was present at the Battle of Geonosis, as was my padawan, only one of us made it out alive. I have personally fought General Grievous once on the moon of Mustafar eight months ago, and I fought my former master once as well two months ago. They both were a draw, and after I was wounded on Geonosis, I thought that my single blade was not going to work, so I constructed this Double-bladed lightsaber. And that's all I have to say about that." Many of the troops nodded their heads in agreement, but a couple were asleep, and had to be nudged awake by a fellow clone. I then flicked a finger towards the lights and they shut down, and the hologram of Talamo appeared infront of me, Commander Thire by my side, I said sternly, my eyes fixated on the ashy planet filled with small towns and cities, "This is Talamo, I'm sure you know that it has one moon named Ijil Ca'min, it's main exports are fuel and bacta, which are transported from the main port city of Austl Kami almost regularly, the capital city is Al'ka Tala'tk, and all of these areas have been take over by CIS forces commanded by General Grievous himself." I continued slowly with my battle plan "We will set up a small secondary team of about three hundred men to ambush Ijil Ca'min and the small Separatist outpost stationed there, when that is captured, we will restock and get ammo for our weapons, treat the wounded, and then we will take whatever CIS freighters we can, so it will confuse the Seps on Talamo, who will think unnecessary reinforcements are arriving, and will be gladly accepted, as soon as the freighters land, we'll proceed with the strike on the port city, gathering the supplies there and heading on towards the capital city, where, hopefully, we will find the leader of Talamo and the essential shield Generator that will insure that our fleet cannot initiate an orbital bombardment, we will need to deactivate or destroy the generator in order to allow the fleet to land and in a severe case, bombard, the surface of Talamo." I finished and took a deep breath, looking in the faces of the clones, then looking back at Thire, who made a gesture to continue, and I did "This is the plan we are sticking to, I am in charge and that is my plan, so do not go against it, now suit up and meet me in the hangar when the Jewel approaches Talamo's moon, good luck, and may the force be with you.." The troops all stood up and saluted, and I proudly saluted back, thinking to myself "This might actually work." 


	3. The Rebellion

The Battle for Talamo

Chapter III-The Battle Plans

Six days before the Battle on Coruscant

"Is the entire planet secure?" A holographic figure asked menacingly, his cloaked face emitted a weird glow which frightened the other person besides the walking hologram. The green skinned Neimoidian beside the hologram said slowly, his silver armor glistened brightly in the dimly lit room. "Yes, my lord, the resistance movement has been quelled and all of the high ranking members have been executed on the General's orders."

"Good...apparently the Duro colonists are prepared to be given a rational alternative to death, perhaps a short time in a detention facility will straighten them out?" The hologram said as it fizzled slightly.

"I agree, Lord Sidious, though I disagree with the Commander's assessment of the situation in the southern region of the capital, there was much violence in the past few hours and I've sent one legion of Neimoidian legionaries armed with three of my personal IG bodyguards to take those responsible into custody." Another voice said from behind the Neimoidian commander, a cold and metallic voice, from the menacing shadow of the creature behind the cowering commander.

"General Grievous...how good of you to have arrived, I trust your judgment of the situation is one that I should take to heart?" The cold metal figure of General Grievous, leader of the Droid Army, stepped out of the darkness, his steel hinged legs creaked as he moved towards the hologram.

"If I may interrupt, my lord, the General has been interrogating a Duros militia officer for the past few hours, and I was the one responsible for stopping the counter attack from the remnants of the militia that fled after our main assault." The cloaked figure said slowly, his hand raising as he spoke "Commander, I do not tolerate those who use my minions for the wrong reasons, the General has been interrogating a valuable source which may lead us to the source of these attacks, and the militia must be stopped before the planet can be fully secure."

The Neimoidian nodded his head, placed his helmet back onto his head, and walked out of the room. Grievous aimed his plague ridden eyes at Sidious, their full malice showing in great quantity, and said through his mechanical voice box "And now to greater issues, my lord."

Darth Sidious nodded slowly and then said "The members of the militia who have pledged their support of our cause have been given weapons to attack the Neimoidian technicians in the capital, when they are dead, the shield will already be up, and the Republic will not know this." Grievous nodded and said coldly "Which will stop the ships in their tracks, all ships leaving and entering Talamo's atmosphere will be disintegrated into dust!"

Sidious slowly shook his head and said forcefully "No! We want the Jedi to enter the system unharmed, the Republic must be allowed to take the centaury moon and set up position there, when the Jedi attacks, they will be confused when none of your droids are in the streets, which will make them believe they have taken the city without combat." Grievous spoke up and nodded "And then we will attack their forces with the new weapon, the one our technicians are adding the final stages to."

Sidious nodded and then said "Yes, everything is coming as I have foreseen it, now leave the planet and await my orders elsewhere."

Grievous bowed his mechanical head deeply and then said "As you wish, Lord Sidious." The hologram fizzled out of existence as Grievous walked quickly towards the hangar, his cadre of droids waiting at the Neimoidian shuttle, he approached the boarding ramp and looked outwards towards the city below where he was, the citizens were locked away, and the darkness of Talamo's ash ridden atmosphere made it difficult to pilot a shuttle. As the shuttle lifted off into the space around Talamo, the shield around the planet slowly sizzled away, shutting down completely as the General's shuttle streaked away from the planet.

Inside the hangar, another man appeared behind the Neimoidian commander who had previously spoken to Grievous, his cold, deep voice resonated through the empty hangar. "Commander Neriv, I want your forces to dispatch into the main port dispatching lava flows to the Republic, if anyone gets into your way..."The Neimoidian saluted firmly and walked away towards to where the Separatists ships were located.

The tall man walked towards the balcony which overlooked the capital city of Al'ka Tala'tk, where the battle droids assembled the fearful colonists of Talamo. "Citizens of Al'ka Tala'tk..." The man yelled to them, his deep voice boomed from high above the city streets, "You are now under the control of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and as punishment for your attempted coup of the Confederacy's newest addition, your cowardly "Taq'u Esktamn" is scheduled to be executed by I." The citizens roared with disapproval as they pushed and shoved each other and at the guard droids, they yelled angrily as they pushed over the droids, taking their blasters and aiming them at the Gate guards. "For the Taq'u Esktamn!" they yelled in unison as they battered the Neimoidian guards until their brains were spattered upon the dirty, ash ridden, streets. They broke the gate with their strength as it fell into the complex where the Separatists set up their command center. "Kill Dooku!" they roared as they started into the courtyard, their numbers together outnumbered the CIS guards almost ten to one. Commander Neriv, a tall and scarred Neimoidian ran into the courtyard with the rest of the battle droid battalion guarding the Royal Palace of Talamo, he looked around with his one eye, the other one concealed behind an eye patch. "Kill them all!" he screamed as the droids behind him began to open fire into the crowd of angry colonists, the silver armored commander shrugged the blaster rifle from his shoulder down into his hands and aimed it at the nearest colonist, most of them had blasters and blunt objects.

"Your occupation has ended, Count, prepare to face the wrath of the Talamo people!" the Taq'u Esktamn yelled towards Dooku as he was dragged away by two guards. Dooku cursed as he strode towards the stairs which led down into the lobby of the Palace. He heard the muffled screams and calls to arms of the Talamo people, their revolt had taken a toll on the Separatists forces. The Count walked slowly down the stairs towards the sound of blaster fire, He stopped into the lobby of the Palace, the chandelier which hung above him glimmered as he stood alone in the center of the main lobby, waiting for the civilians to storm into where he was. His hands were placed calmly on his belt as he sighed heavily, his eyes piercing the door which budged suddenly. Villagers stormed the Processional way, which led into the main lobby of the Palace, where statues of Duros leaders and Talamo heroes stood tall, made of fine marbles, now they were fallen, ruined by the colonists who desperately wanted the only nine hour rule of the CIS to be over. the ornate door that led to the lobby cracked harshly as Dooku heard the sound of more voices, hatred could be heard in their voices as he calmly stood and waited, seeing that he was the only one left, the only member of the CIS still alive, still standing, in the Royal Palace of Talamo. As the colonists finally broke down the door, he raised his hands as they angrily circled around him, yelling curses and saying a multitude of things. A grey bearded Duros stepped forward towards the Count and said harshly "Where is the Taq'u Esktamn!?" he waited for a response from the fallen Jedi Master. "The Taq'u is safely away from here, he has been moved from here...and if you want him alive, you will bow down before me now and pledge your allegiance to the Confederacy of Independent Systems." Dooku yelled forcefully as his deep voice resonated in the main lobby, his aged hands still calmly on his belt, his curved-hilt lightsaber just barely glimmering. The grey beard Duro said sternly "Lay down your weapons or we WILL kill you." Dooku shrugged his shoulders slowly and then said slowly, his deep voice vibrating against the ornate walls "That was your last chance, I gave you a chance to live, but instead...you have chosen death instead, how misfortunate." The Duros snickered almost as the grey beard said to Dooku with a laugh "Ha! One of you against three hundred of us? You must be crazy!" Dooku shook his head and tilted his head to the left, exposing his shining curved hilt lightsaber on his belt, he then spoke, saying to them "One Sith Lord against three hundred colonists is hardly a challenge...you had a chance to live again, in the eyes of the Separatists...now you will die!" Dooku outstretched his hands upwards, his eyes glowing an eerie yellow color, as his hands glowed a blue color, and then a fury of lethal force lightning shivered from his finger tips and upwards into the room, hitting the chandelier and extinguishing all light from the room except the terrifying Sith lightning, that fell downwards towards the Duros, who grew horrified at their fate. The lightning fell into them with a loud pop, and it grew in ferocity and strength, frying the colonists one by one, their bodies giving out and dropping onto the once pristine floor of the lobby, smoke slowly lifting off their corpses as the last of them fell with a thud, the only one left was grey beard, who looked around at his comrades in horror and shock, as he tried towards the door, but Dooku raised his hand upward at grey beard as he was pulled to the Sith by use of the force, the horror in the colonist leader was that unlike no one had ever seen, Dooku wrapped his hand around grey beard's neck and said slowly, as his blood red lightsaber snapped to life, "You will pay with your lack of vision with death!" with a swift flick of the Count's wrist, old grey beard was left without a head, and his once squirming arms and legs stood silent, flopping as Dooku dropped the corpse into the pile of other dead colonists in the room.

It stunk of slime..


	4. Assult on Ijil Ca'min

Battle for Talamo

Chapter Four-Assault on Ijil Ca'min

Five Days before the Battle of Coruscant

"All pilots to their fighters immediately!" One of the Deck officers screamed into the loudspeakers of the Illustrious Jewel, the Republic Flagship had just burst out of hyperspace and were getting closer to the only moon of Talamo. I watched from the bridge of the ship as they grew closer to the moon, Clone Commander Thire at my side, I turned to the pilots of the ship and said "Full power to the frontal shields as soon as the fighters dispatch from the hangars, I want the bombers to schedule their runs according to size and importance of targets, take out the droid facilities and barracks first, leave the control center to me." The pilots nodded as they relayed my orders to the troops, who sped out of the Illustrious Jewel and towards the large moon. I turned to Commander Thire with a smirk and said slowly "Let us go then, I want the commandos and the shock troopers loaded onto the shuttles immediately so they can meet us in the hangar." Thire saluted as we walked into the turbo lift which dropped down into the main hangar. Ijil Ca'min was almost in sight of the Republic, there were eight large, bunker-like buildings that were encased in shining black steel, gun turrets guarded the moon, and two gigantic shield emitters were placed on either side of a smaller sized building. As they approached and the Republic pilots sped towards the buildings, the bombers keeping a close eye on where the CIS troops were coming from, as the fighters took out the main force and engaged any of the Seps fighters, my men were assembled in the hangar, waiting for my call on when to disembark from the hangar on our shuttles to the drop point west of the shield complex. "Do what needs to be done to secure the perimeter and every building on the moon, we have only spotted eight buildings on Ijil Ca'min, but we suspect whatever the Seps are doing, the majority of it is being done underground, that's why the commandos are going in with me, so if we must go into their lower levels, we will have what we need to secure the area properly, let's get moving then." I said slowly to my troops, Commander Thire stood beside me, giving a reassuring nod when ever some troops expressed doubt, I wasn't the best of leaders in these situations, but I wouldn't't back down from a fight, this my former master knew. If Dooku knew I was leading the strike, he would have called for most of the CIS army, he knew what his former apprentice was capable of, but also, he knew of every single one of my weaknesses.

The strike force boarded the LAAT gunships and they shot out of the hangar on my signal, I looked around the ship as we raced towards Ijil Ca'min, the centaury moon over Talamo, I spoke to Thire and said "As soon as we get onto the surface, we're heading for that bunker surrounded by two shield emitters, can you make out what kind they are?" Thire looked out the cockpit towards the moon and took out his electro binoculars, saying to me through his helmet slowly "Looks like a low-energy SLD-26 planetary shield generator, sir." I nodded and said to Thire "Good, that means we can get through with our ships with little or no casualties, I see they are only surrounding that bunker and nothing else." Thire nodded in confrimation and said as we started our descent "Yes, all the other buildings are susseptable to our bombardments, it seems that they are only trying to protect that bunker only." I closed my eyes and then opened them, asking Thire quickly "Do you see the hangar?" Thire yet again adjusted his electro binoculars and then yelled "Yessir, weird thing is, none of the Seps are going for the transports in the hangar, they could more than hold the number of troops they have, why would they not retreat?" as the doors opened on the LAAT, the clones jumped out, switching on their DC-15A blasters, the tibanna gas cartriges that powered their weapons made a small hiss as they were powered up. I nodded to Thire as all the clones disembarked, saying to him loudly "Mabey it's because they know they won't stand a chance against us?" Thire smirked as his DC-15 blaster switched on, saying from under his helmet "Perhaps,Sir." As Thire's blaster sprang on, firing three crimson red bolts at one of the scurring Neimoidian technicians, his slimy body dropping onto the ash ridden ground, the sound of lava bubbling was heard all around us as three Supers came from behind a lava rock formation and twisted their wrist blasters towards our troops, who were busily targeting the droids that had escaped the bombardmet, I looked at the three Super battle droids and before you could say "Gundark" a double bladed lightsaber snapped to life in my hands, it's glimmering purple blades lit up my face as the Supers looked at each other and said in their weird robotic voices "Manual Overload:Error 589:Jedi Presence detected, switch to Rocket launcher immediately" I looked at them as their wrist blasters turned into a larger rocket launcher, I said slowly "Sith spit.." as they lauched their rockets twoards me and my troops. My hand snapped up towards the rockets and sqeezed my hand, letting the force flow through it, and the rockets wizzed out of control and into the lava rivers, the droids were shocked, and their voice emmiters stuttered as they said slowly "Error:9th degree Error:Manual shutdown in effect:97 initiated" The droids red protoceptors fizzed out of existence and their normal black returned, the steel CIS droids dropped onto the ash surface with a controlled thud. I smirked as my double bladed lightsaber blocked three blaster shots from a standard battle droid, deflecting the bolts back at it. The clones were fighting valiantly and had suffered few casualties, but as we advanced I saw a new enemy approach, a dark cloaked figure appeared with the droids and said from under it's hood "Master Dooku will not be let down, as one of his Dark Alcoyte apprentices I will drink the blood of the Jedi." I looked at the Dark Jedi with malice as his single blade came to life, it's blood red blade shining off the battle droids next to it,he lowered his hood to reveal a man with blonde hair and a small goatee, smaller than mine. Out of nowhere his attack came, it was swift but unsuceesful, blade on blade as the clones and droids battled each other. I had the advantage, two blades against one did not go in favour of the Dark Jedi. I slashed and swished my blades twoards him as he skillfully blocked most of my attacks. We drove each other towards the large cliff overlooking a large bead of lava far below. He yelled to me and said "A friend of the Darklighters is an enemy of me." I blinked as he said this, Keisha and Kai Darklighter, two fellow Jedi I had know to love as friends and warriors, there was only one person who hated them so much.

I shouted fiercley towards the Dark Jedi as we both were drawn closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, and the river of lava below "Phixx Arano!You betrayed the Order!" The Dark Jedi stifled a laugh and said with an evil smirk "The Order betrayed me! All Jedi are the enemy now!You must die as well, Senu Meji..Master of the Lightstaff." I blocked his attacks as they grew in lethalicy. We were both at the edge of the cliff as my boot found a clear passageway to Phixx's chin, knocking the Dark Jedi back a few steps as my assault grew quicker, The fury of Dooku's teachings flowed through me as my precise moves drove the Dark Jedi towards the very edge of the rock cliff, overlooking the lava river below. He cursed at me and spat at my foot, saying at he outstreached a hand twoards me,pushing me back with the force "Filthy Jedi,Your bones will turn to ash on this hell planet!" I smirked as my footing regained itself,saying as I brought my blades twoards his skull "You first!" His blade went upwards as he blocked my first attack, I smirked as I knew he had fallen for it, the other side of my lightstaff shot over him like lightning and came back around in a swish at his shoulder, which brought his lightsaber out of his hands and into the lava below, he stood before me, defeated like the Jedi-hating dog that he way. I smirked slightly as his eyes did not show fear,blood slowly trickling down his mouth as he said "Finish it! Kill me!" I shook my head and said "You won't get the pleasure of death from me, Life in the hell you are in is a fate one hundred times worse than death, you are battered and beated like the fool you are...and your blood will not be on my hands."Phixx was confused as his eyes widened,he then stood up and walked backwards slowly, saying to me, holding his wounded shoulder "Your Republic is Doomed!"He then let the gravity take him as he let himself fall off the cliff into the lava below. I didn't bother to look, I knew that Phixx Arano, Former Jedi, would be alive to haunt I and my friends again." I dusted my robes off as I picked up my comlink and said into it to Thire "Commander this is General Meji, status report." Thire said happily, the first time I've heard him say anything in that manner in the whole War "Yessir! We've taken the buildings and took down the shields surrounding the bunker, We are waiting for you to come back so we can go into the lower levels on your order." I nodded with satisfaction as I ran off twoards where my men had assembled for the assault on the bunker.


End file.
